Tchaikovsky - Eugen Onegin / T. Allen, Freni, von Otter, Shicoff, Burchuladze; Levine

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
Levine has assembled a cast strong in both singing and acting, although Mirella Freni is a bit mature for the teenage Tatiana and there are no Russians in the leading roles. The conducting quite properly emphasizes the psychological and emotional extremes in a story deeply imbued with the Byronic attitudes and poses of literary Romanticism. The orchestra, in James Levine's (and Tchaikovsky's) hands becomes a character in this drama as vital as any of the singers, and Pushkin's poem-novel, the source of the opera, can be felt with unusual clarity underlying this interpretation. --Joe McLellan

Tracks:

Eugen Onegin: Seite 1 - Erster Akt - Erstes Bild - Einleitung
Eugen Onegin: Erster Akt - Erstes Bild - Slikhali I vi za roschei glas nochnoi (Duet and Quartett)
Eugen Onegin: Erster Akt - Erstes Bild - Bolyat moyi skori nozhenski so pokhodushki - Uzh kak po mostu, mostochku (Chor und Tanz der Schnitter)
Eugen Onegin: Erster Akt - Erstes Bild - Kak ya lyublyu pod zvuki pesen etikh - Uzh kak po mostu, mostochku (Szene and Arie der Olga)
Eugen Onegin: Erster Akt - Erstes Bild - Nu ti, moya vostrushka (Szene)
Eugen Onegin: Erster Akt - Erstes Bild - Mesdames! Ya na sebya vzyal smyelost - Skazhi, kotoraya Tatyana (Szene and Quartett)
Eugen Onegin: Seite 2 - Erster Akt - Erstes Bild - Kak shchastliv, kak shchastliv ya! - Ya lyublyu vas (Szene und Arioso des Lenski)
Eugen Onegin: Erster Akt - Erstes Bild - A, vot i vi! (SchluB-Szene)
Eugen Onegin: Erster Akt - Zweites Bild - Nu, zaboltalas ya! (Introduction and Szene)
Eugen Onegin: Erster Akt - Zweites Bild - Puskai pogibnu ya, no pryezhde (Brief-Szene)
Eugen Onegin: Seite 3 - Erster Akt - Zweites Bild - Akh, noch minula
Eugen Onegin: Seite 3 - Erster Akt - Drittes Bild - Dyevitsi, krasavitsi (Chor de Madchen)
Eugen Onegin: Seite 3 - Erster Akt - Drittes Bild - Zdyes on, zdyes on Yevgeni! - Kogda bi zhizn domanshnim krugom (Szene und Aire des Onegin)

Tracks:

Eugen Onegin: Seite 4 - Zweiter Akt - Erstes Bild - Vot tak syurpriz! (Zwischenakt und Walzer mit chor)
Eugen Onegin: Seite 4 - Zweiter Akt - Erstes Bild - Uzhel ya zasluzhil ot vas nasmyeshku etu? - A cette fete convies (Szene und Couplets des Triquet)
Eugen Onegin: Seite 4 - Zweiter Akt - Erstes Bild - Messieurs, mesdames, mesta zanyat izvolte - Ti ne tantsuyesh, Lenski? (Mazurka and Szene)
Eugen Onegin: Seite 4 - Zweiter Akt - Erstes Bild - V vashem dome! V vashem dome! (Finale)
Eugen Onegin: Seite 5- Zweiter Akt - Zweites Bild - Nu, shto zhe? - Kuda, kuda, kuda vi udalilis (Introduktion, Szene und Arie des Lenski)
Eugen Onegin: Seite 5- Zweiter Akt - Zweites Bild - A, vot oni! (Duell-Szene)
Eugen Onegin: Seite 5- Dritter Akt - Erstes Bild - Polonaise
Eugen Onegin: Seite 6 - Dritter Akt - Erstes Bild - I zdyes mnye skuchno! - Knyaginya Gremina! Smotrite! (Szene und Arie des Fursten Gremin)
Eugen Onegin: Seite 6 - Dritter Akt - Erstes Bild - Lyubvi vsye vozrasti pokorni
Eugen Onegin: Seite 6 - Dritter Akt - Erstes Bild - Itak, poidyom, tebya predstavlyu va - Uzhel ta samaya Tatyana (Szene und Arioso des Onegin)
Eugen Onegin: Seite 6 - Dritter Akt - Zweites Bild - O! Kak mnye tyazhelo! - Onegin! Ya togda molozhe (SchluB-Szene)

Amazon.com essential recording

Levine has assembled a cast strong in both singing and acting, although Mirella Freni is a bit mature for the teenage Tatiana and there are no Russians in the leading roles. The conducting quite properly emphasizes the psychological and emotional extremes in a story deeply imbued with the Byronic attitudes and poses of literary Romanticism. The orchestra, in James Levine's (and Tchaikovsky's) hands becomes a character in this drama as vital as any of the singers, and Pushkin's poem-novel, the source of the opera, can be felt with unusual clarity underlying this interpretation. --Joe McLellan

Customer Reviews:

A Distinguished Cast for EUGENE ONEGIN.......2007-02-27

This excellently produced 1987 DG recording, conducted by James Levine with an energetic chorus and orchestra, can be recommended without hesitation to the newcomer to Tchaikovsky's Romantic EUGENE ONEGIN. The cast's principals were all leading exponents onstage of their roles in the opera; as heard here they have many virtues, few faults, and make a fine company.

Mirella Freni, fifty-three years old in 1987, is not always ideally steady. However, her voice had retained its radiance, and this quality goes a long way toward suggesting Tatyana's youth, innocence, and sensitivity. In the last act, Freni's mature artistry translates into Tatyana's newfound poise and self-assurance as the wife of Prince Gremin. Thomas Allen lives up to his reputation for making difficult characters, like Eugene Onegin, interesting and ultimately sympathetic; and though his Onegin can be cold indeed - just listen to his interaction with Freni's Tatyana in Act I, scene three (end of CD #1) -- the voice itself is always warm, beautifully balanced, and easy on the ear. (Allen's Count Almaviva in the classic Solti LE NOZZE DI FIGARO is very like this Onegin: a cold characterization warmly sung.) Neil Schicoff, with his "nervy" but attractive tenor, embodies the hypersensitive Lensky. Though it is possible to imagine a more elegant or a more quietly melancholic interpretation of the poet, Schicoff's portrayal here is superb; he has made the role his own. This was an early recording for Anne Sofie von Otter. Her singing as Olga is a joy, her high mezzo completely devoid of the lugubriousness unsuitable for, yet too often heard in, the role of Tatyana's flighty sister. Paata Burchulaadze is an above-average Gremin with a full, resonant low F-sharp at the end of his aria. The wonderful French character tenor Michel Senechal sings Monsieur Triquet's couplets with charm and sweet tone. James Levine conducts a "big," weighty performance. While this approach is arguably inappropriate for such a delicate work as EUGENE ONEGIN, the results are undeniably exciting and emotional - reflecting, perhaps, Tchaikovsky's own suffering at the time of the opera's composition (see Mark Swed's review in THE METROPOLITAN OPERA GUIDE TO RECORDED OPERA for more on Levine's approach).

Which Onegin to buy, Levine or Bychkov?.......2007-02-03

When The Gramophone gave a lukewarm review to Levine's 1989 Eugene Onegin and a rave to the 1993 set under Semyon Bychkov, I felt a healthy skepticism. How a magazine solely devoted to classical listening could hire writers with such lamentably bad ears is beyond me. So I decided to investigate for myself. Without a doubt these are the two leading versions of Tchaikovsky's most famous opera. Ironically, considering that he has sniffed out many rarely heard Russian operas, Valery Gergiev wasn't given the chance to record the second most famous Russian opera, after Boris Godunov; Philips gave the nod to Bychkov instead.

Levine/ Dresden: This is a non-Russian reading with a stellar international cast (British, Italian, American), replicating a great night at the Met in the late Eighties, only transferred to Dresden. The advantages of having world-class musicians at every level, from Levine's truly exceptional conducting to the Staatskapelle's gorgeous orchestral sound and the casting of Freni, Allen, and Shicoff, are unmatched by any rivals. And every singer is in fine voice. How anyone could rate this set below the highest is a mystery to me. Even the German chorus sounds totally Slavic, but then, it helps that 999 out of a thousand Western listeners don't know a syllable of Russian (beyond nyet and da). Our willingness to hear unidomatic singers is one of the reasons Onegin has been so often performaed in the West without benefit of Slavic voices.

What really matters is dramatic conviction, and here again the Levine set is unequalled outside Russia. Tchaikovsky's score is musically static compared to Verdi, with many intimate scenes and inward emotions. Melodies are spun out slowly over long stretches. Therefore, it's vital to have a conductor and singers who bring inner vibrancy to every bar. Levine, Freni, Shicoff, and Allen do just that. I couldn't tear myself away, which wasn't the case listening to the Bychkov set. The one minus cited by many critics has to do with Freni's age, but she's in great voice and frankly sounds as young as anyone could wish without being girlish. Her counterpart on the Bychkov set, Nuccia Focile, sounds fresher but is nowhere near the artist that Freni is. In sum, this is one of Levine's real (and surprising) triumphs on disc.

Bychkov/ Paris -- I am an admirer of Semyon Bychkov, particularly in his early days when he shot to prominence conducting the Berlin Phil. and, as here, the Orchestre de Paris, but his skillful management of the score is underpowereed and at times slack compared to Levine. The melodic line is allowed to languish, however prettily, too often. His orchestra is quite good--it's not recorded in the best sound by Philips--yet it lacks the special finesse and glow of the Dresden group.

The main reason that critics swooned over this set comes down to one name: Dmitri Hvorostovsky. Onegin is his signature role, as Boris Godunov was for Christoff, and he makes the most of it. With his matinee-idol looks, DH is a smash onstage; moreover, he bothers to act with his voice here (as he rarely does in Verdi, Mozart, or sometimes in Russian roles). With his perfeclty even vocal production and superb dramatic inflections, no better, more alluring hero can be imagined.

But the superiority of the singing stops there. Focile gives us a fine Tatyana, but her voice is rather edgy, especially as recorded by Philips. Neil Shicoff repeats his excellent Lensky (another signature role) from the Levine set, but he's notably less fresh and ardent. In fact, Shicoff provides a touchstone for comparison. Listen to any passage where he appears, and see if Levine doesn't bring out much the best in him compared to Bychkov.

Much more could be said about both these esteemed sets, yet this is one case where the dark horse wins the race. I plump for the Levine recording on all counts except Hvorostovsky. He has countless fans, and his Onegin proves that he deserves them. For overall musical pleasure, however, the Philips recording comes in second.

A Beautiful And Exciting Eugene.......2006-02-03

This studio recording made in the early to mid 90's is a stunning account of Tchaikovsky's popular opera Eugene Onegin, despite several critics' comments regarding how this is not the right way to sing Onegin. The beauty of this recording lies in the marriage of both dramatic and beautiful singing. The men, in particular, are executing marvelous arias and dramatic scenas. True, the cast is not Russian and therefore may not have command of Russian diction, but this is alright with me, having never considered the Russian/Slavic accent a beautiful one. It's harsh, invective-style and plain ugly. However, in the hands of a few singers, such as these ones, Russian opera can sound wonderful. The only other truly grand Russian opera singer who sung with beauty and dramatic power was Galina Vishnevskaya, and if she sang Tatiana, it's a loss to us that she didn't record it. Mirella Freni as Tatiana is a revelation. Though she doesn't have the assets she had as a young singer- in the heady days of her career she could sing great Susannas, Violettas, Nanettas, Micaelas, Juliettes and even Queen Elisabeth Di Valois in Don Carlo- she sings with enormous passion. She boils over with ardor and yearning for Onegin. Never a more dramatic Tatiana are you ever to find. Freni sang this difficult, demanding role in the final days of her career. She learned to sing Tchaikovsky opera (other than Tatiana she also sang the heroine in Queen of Spades) from none other than the great Russian bass Nicolai Ghiurov, who was her husband prior to his death of cancer a few years ago. Mirella Freni's voice is an example of lyrico-spinto, eventhough in this recording, as in her 1991 Tosca with Domingo and Ramey, she sounds forced and the role evidently took a strain on her. However, the fact she had the guts to take on this role is evidence of her versatility as an artist.

Paschal Allen sings Eugene Onegin. His portrayal is at once that of a tragic, romantic figure. Enough has already been said about how he masterfully hits that sustained high note at the end of the Part Scene/Act. The great Neil Shicoff sings an expressive and dramatic Lensky. This is one of his best roles, and if you want to hear another superb performance of his check out his Eleazar from Halevy's La Juive. Paata Burchuladze was a versatile bass artist who could sing Verdi and, as you can plainly see, Russian opera. What a fine modern recording of Eugene Onegin this is. A more dramatic and beautiful one you are hard-pressed to find.

good.......2002-08-12

A very good performance from all but to me the Solti version is number one. Stuart Burrows as Lensky is melting. His aria makes me cry every time. Nothing compares.

I must admit to buying it to see if I felt the same but it didn't quite hit the note for me. Nevertheless,it is good, but not quite what I wanted to hear.

much better than other non-Russian.......2002-02-24

I must differ to the previous opinion. Russian of the main singers is bearable enough, especially comparing to the Solti interpretation that sounds really strange. I mean pretty strange conducting, strange choose for the singers, and dreadful, unprofessionally sounding Russian. I can point out just two strong points of that interpretation, which are Giaurov as Gremin and thorough booklet. Otherwise Levine's CD is fine. Probably, Freni is the best Tatiana recorded ever, Shikoff is fabulous (just compare with Burrows!), Levine conducts agreeably, and the record is beautifully scaled. Anyway, I'd prefer entirely Russian interpretation. I am sorry about that.

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